>> welcome to the "journal," coming to you from berlin. >> i am anne o'donnell. >> i am ben fajzullin. the georgians cast their ballots in a parliamentary vote. >> the band pussy riot has its appeal hearing postponed. >> it in a stunning comeback over the united states, -- >> it in a stunning comeback over the united states, europe -- >> in a stunning comeback over the

united states, europe clinched the ryder cup. >> georgia could be set for a post-election standoff. both the ruling party and opposition coalition are claiming victory. >> the former soviet republic has claimed that exit polls give the opposition an edge, but the government claims it will retain its majority. >> opposition supporters have taken to the streets to celebrate victory. georgians went to the polls against a backdrop of prison abuse, a scandal that has damaged the once-popular government of mikhail saakashvili. his name rivals -- his main rival was to move the country into russia. it is not clear when the outcome will be known. let's go live to our reporter following the ballot in georgia. some confusion about the outcome, with both major groups

claiming victory. do you have any further details? >> these elections have been a close race from the beginning. what we now hear from tbilisi, is that these elections obviously have turned out to become a victory for the opposition. the opposition -- the ballots showed that -- the exit polls showed that opposition leaders -- the opposition led by the oligarch who is accompanied with the president of georgia. >> is at stake? will this determine the future of the country -- >> what is at stake? will this determine the future of the country? >> this parliament will become more powerful for next year on,

so does the prime minister. they suggested that this might have been done by president saakashvili to keep his grip on power after he has to step back next year as president after two terms being president. this is telling much about the direction of the country. will it tend further towards moscow's sphere of influence when it will be led by a coalition led by ivanishvili? he has several times into this question. he says he wants to try to get better relations with russia because it is a very important market for us. it is important for us to have good ties to russia to get up our economy again. we also tend to go for the way which saakashvili did. we want to go further towards

european union and nato. >> thank you very much for that. staying in moscow, a russian court has postponed the punk band pussy riot's appeal after one of them fired her lawyer. they have been given nine days to find a new lawyer. the anti-kremlin trio have been sentenced to two years in jail on a number of charges including disturbing the peace. they staged a protest against vladimir putin earlier this year. >> the women from pussy riot came to the appeal hearing without any great expectations that they would be released, but what came next was surely a shock. one of the trio had decided to break with the defense team. >> i do not exactly know what has happened. we met of three women on friday. one of them confirmed we would continue to work together. something must have happened

over the weekend. >> the lawyers believe someone may have pressured her to create discord between the women and their legal representatives. the others are sticking by their story that they did not commit a crime when they staged a protest in the moscow cathedral. >> my client as already stated it was an ethical mistake to stage a protest at the cathedral of christ the savior. i think those apologies should have been accepted. >> but apologies are not enough for radical members of the russian orthodox church. they staged a protest outside of the court demanding a higher penalty for pless-- for pussy riot. >> syria's for and -- foreign minister. >> addressing the u.n. general assembly, he claimed that france, the u.s., saudi arabia,

qatar, and turkey were injured. in the syrian domestic fears -- were interfering in syrian domestic affairs. in syria itself, dozens of civilians have died in the army shelling and air raids at various flashpoints. that is according to the syrian observatory for human rights. they have been named -- peer steinbruck has been named as a candidate for chancellor in next year's election. >> this nomination is expected to receive widespread endorsement at a special party conference in december. >> the unanimous support of the party executive was no doubt a welcome surprise for peer steinbruck. while the election is still a long way away, he is already setting the tone for the campaign.

>> it may involve a bit of humor and a bit of wit. some of the best weapons to use against your political opponents are wit and positive imagery with other than just a head-on attack. >> steinbruck says germany needs to put the focus back on a socially-just a market economy. -- socially-just market economy. for some, he represents welfare cuts that were pushed through in the previous government. >> i'm not jumping for joy. the fact of the matter is, he is what we've got. >> he is a good candidate to meet chancellor merkel. we need a sound program, a united party, and a candidate who can champion that program. that will improve our appeal to voters. >> the party's ste left wing

party's stinb -- the party boss left wing is behind -- the party's left wing is behind steinbruck. >> our correspondent has been following this note. tell us more about -- this vote. tell us more about steinbruck and merkel. how do they actually differ? >> not very much. from 2005 to 2009, peer steinbruck was merkel's finance minister. he was initially opposed to a stimulus package. he later changed his mind. that is because he is a pragmatist, like angela merkel. during that time that they work together, he shaped, in a very important way -- they worked together, he shaved, in a very important way, per economic thinking -- he shaped, in a very

important way, her economic thinking. he has to placate the left wing of the social democrat party. on the other hand, he has to win the support of german voters who would favor a more pragmatic approach. that is very difficult. the center ground of german politics has already been firmly occupied. that is by his rival, angela merkel. he seems to be presenting himself as the better european, the more committed european. he is telling voters that greece will take a lot longer to recover and that is going to cost a lot of money. he is saying they are entitled to that information. that may be true, but, as we know, elections are seldom won by telling the electorate unpleasant truths. >> thank you very much for the update. >> the greek government said the country is heading for its sixth consecutive year of recession

next year. they see about 7.8 billion euros of fresh austerity cuts. their talks earlier in the day with the so-called troika -- there were talks earlier in the day with the so-called troika. people gathered to protest the talks. we're joined by our actions correspondent. is this what the government parties were elected to do -- our athens correspondent. is this what the government parties were elected to do? >> the troika resumed their talks with greek officials today. within about 90 minutes, they had not exactly broken down but the troika told the finance ministry officials that the figures did not add up.

they did not believe nearly 20% of the cuts were achievable. it went from the finance ministry to the meeting with the prime minister, samaris. this has, so far, followed a familiar pattern. >> what kind of response can be expect from the greek people? >> you'll start to see a step up in trade union protests, other protests, for a start. the power workers have said they will start rolling strikes of up to 48 hours very soon. >> thank you very much for that update. >> the ranks of the jobless continue to swell in europe as the economic crisis in -- crisis in the eurozone refuses to go away. the statistics show a record 11.4% of the work force is

searching for a job. that is 18.2 million people. there is no relief in sight. >> workers in greece and spain have been hardest hit by the deepening crisis. . 1/4 of the labor -- about 1/4 of the labor force was looking for work there in august. spain is on top of the list, greece trailing just behind. portugal after that. in germany, just 5.5% of the population is looking for work. it is even better in the netherlands, while austria boasts the lowest overall unemployment rate in europe. analysts expect the negative trend to continue. >> so, more doom and gloom from the you -- the e.u. on monday.

our correspondent has more. >> record unemployment is the last thing the financial professionals here in the frankfurt floor wanted to hear. it increases the pressure on heads of government to go slowly on their reform and their austerity programs, and that could endanger the promises for financial help. that creates uncertainty. that is something that the markets here do not like to live with. still, the share prices went up board -- went upwards, and how. concentrating on a little bit of good news in the industrial sector in the united states and in the eurozone, not really good news, but at least not as bad as feared. >> let's check out those strong numbers across europe. the main german index, the dax, making up a good deal of last week's losses. things had turned bad for a while. a major turnaround today.

financial shares impressed the most. the u.s. stocks -- the euro stoxx 50 outperformed the dax. over to the united states where the dow jones is also beefing up its value. it is over the 13,500 mark now. still trading with the euro up. it is getting extremely close to that 1.29 mark. >> and the deal is sealed. two mining giants are merging. xstrata has given the green light for a merger with glencore. >> the residing -- resulting company will dominate the mining industry. money continues to turn a healthy profit. demand for raw -- mining continues to turn a healthy profit. demand for raw materials is still high. the european union regulators will now have to rule on whether the merger will be -- lead to a

mining monopoly or not. >> we will be back after the break. still to come, what happens to german workers in afghanistan when the bond is rarely as the country -- when the bundeswehr leaves the country?

>> picking up on that story that anne mentioned, there are signs that the taliban continues to grow in strength in afghanistan. they carried out a costly attack, damaging and destroying eight nato fighter jets in helmand province. >> there have been fears expressed about what will happen when nato withdraws. some of the 3000 afghans who have worked for the german army are asking if they can immigrate to germany.

>> hundreds of afghan workers are waiting to get into their workplace. one of them is this man. he has been working as a translator for the german troops for two years. the troops rely on him and others like him. at 21-year-old student, he is worried about -- the 21-year-old student is worried about what will happen after the bond is where -- after the bundeswehr withdraws. >> afghanistan's government does not have the capacity, they are not able to give us good jobs to run our lives better like now we are doing. >> it is the largest bundeswehr military camp in the country. hundreds of afghans are employed as part of the german deployment in this region. but their close ties the troops

also put them at risk -- close ties to the troops also put them at risk. find out what dangers they are exposed to. meet a group of taliban fighters from the head connie network -- we meet a group of taliban fighters from the haqqani network. some of the deadliest attacks have been attributed to the group. >> it is our holy duty to fight against the invaders. as long as we live, we will fight to the death. >> the haqqani network belongs to the radical wing of the taliban. they reject peace negotiations and they demand the withdrawal of foreign troops. then its members say they're our will come -- say their hour will come. >> americans are defeated. they must be forced to leave this country immediately.

>> the taliban fighters began to prepare for the next attack. >> get ready. we will take guns and missiles. >> instead of cell phones, they only use walkie-talkies so their movements cannot be tracked. they set off, prepared for their next battle. we have to switch off our camera. [gunfire] they know the power of propaganda, so they give us a video showing an assault on a military convoy. it shows the violence and bloodshed that has become part of daily life in afghanistan. from the northeast, we head back to the bundeswehr camp. the translator fears the taliban and its influence after the bundeswehr withdraws in 2014. he has made a tough decision.

>> i will leave afghanistan with all my family. if i am out of afghanistan and my family stays inside, they could be -- >> before the troops leave for good, he is hoping the germans will help him and his family moved to germany. so far, there has been no decision. the future of he and his colleagues remain uncertain. >> author salman rushdie has unveiled his new autobiography in berlin. the author of "the satanic verses" and "midnight's children" has written about his life underground after a high- ranking islamic leader placed a fatwa on him. the consequence, rushdie spent more than a decade fearing for his life and living under an assumed name. he is using his book to reiterate the freedom of expression. >> these days, salman rushdie

can go out in public without police protection, but it was not always like that. with his new autobiography, the author's difficult past is finding new relevance at time of enormous upheaval in parts of the muslim world. in 1989, iran's ayatollah khomeini issued a fatwa against the writer, shortly after the publication of his novel, "the satanic verses." worldwide demonstrations against him followed. he was accused of offending islam. the indian-born british author went into hiding and continue to write under the name "joseph anton, which is also-- name joseph anton, which is also the name of his memoir. >> i walked into bookshops and i see plenty of things that offend me, but it does not occur to me to burn the bookshop down.

>> the book recounts what it was like living under a fatwa for more than a decade. today, he lives in new york and no longer requires police protection. he continues to fight for a freedom of expression, including four things like the film currently incurring -- including for things like the film currently incurring outrage in the arab world. >> it is very important to hold the line. >> it is a view he will continue to champion on all the stops of his latest book tour. >> corporate news, ikea has hit the headlines for airbrushing women out of their catalogs in saudi arabia. the swedish firm says its sorry -- it is sorry, but that does not change the issue of gender and the quality in a country where women are still not allowed to vote or drive cars. >> ikea's fun and forward-

thinking image has made its furniture and fixture in households around the world, but that reputation is under threat amid rumors that women were rushed out of the saudi arabia -- were airbrushed out of the saudi version of its catalog. "we regret the current situation. we should have reacted and realize that excluding women from the saudi arabian version of the catalog is not in line with ikea values." millions of ikea catalogs are distributed worldwide. the companies as an outside group was responsible for the saudi catalog -- the company says an outside group was responsible for the saudi catalog and promises to keep a closer tab on the company in the future. >> so far, only a fraction of

the country's 43 million registered cars are running on battery power. the vast majority of german motorists simply do not like the idea of electromobility, which is still in its infancy and quite expensive. even members of the german government are now backpedaling, saying it is down to the automobile industry to make electric cars more attractive to potential buyers. >> arriving at the chancellery in an electric car, the boss of daimler-benz to set an example and to bring the sector some desperately-needed publicity. there are only 4.5000 electric cars currently registered in germany, relatively few -- 4 ,500 electric cars currently registered in germany, relatively few. chancellor angela merkel reiterated her position after talks with industry representatives on monday. >> we agreed it would be wrong

to give up our goals because we have eight years ahead of us and we have seen another -- seen in other technological fields that these things can be packed -- picked up at a rapid pace. >> emission-free vehicles cost more than their gas guzzling counterparts and only have a limited range. while there makers focus on advancing battery technology -- while their makers focus on advancing battery technology, the government rejects further subsidies. >> we'll work hard to achieve this in fields -- in the field of research and development. >> the government says it would be happy to get 600,000 electric cars on the road in the next few years, but experts say even that is an ambitious goal. >> sports news, one of the greatest comebacks in golf history. europe had miraculously managed to keep their hands on the ryder cup.

>> they fought their way back to beat the u.s. 14 1/2 to 13 1/2 in illinois. >> germany's martin kaymer sealed the deal with his victory over steve stricker. >> team europe chipped, drove, and putted their way into the history books. the americans inched back into the game, but europe's justin rose was quick to strike back. jose maria olazabal summoned the golf gods as kaymer stepped onto the green. >> jose maria told me we need your point. i do not really care how you do it. just the letter it. -- just deliver it. it was very straightforward.

that is the way we germans are. for chile, i could handle it. and i made the last -- fortunately, i could handle it and i made the last putt. >> this will go down in the history books of the ryder cup. it was a huge comeback, and i am really happy for these 12 wonderful men. >> team europe has reason to celebrate. the ryder cup remains in europe for now. in 2014, the two teams meet again at gleneagles in scotland. >> thanks for watching. don't go away.